Friday’s Premier League meeting between Leeds United and West Ham is already shaping up to be massive.
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke insists a bottom-six game against West Ham is the kind of high-pressure occasion his side have spent the past two years working towards.
The Whites welcome 19th-placed West Ham to Elland Road on Friday in what already looks to be a massive game, with both losing 2-0 last time out and in desperate need of a result. That desperation is a little more intense for the away side but growing in West Yorkshire as wasteful finishing and defensive lapses cost vital points.
A Friday night game under the lights could see Leeds kick off their weekend in the best way, or conversely set themselves up for a miserable couple of days. But for Farke and his Leeds squad, it is just another opportunity for points in the league they worked so hard to partake in last season.
“No added pressure,” a typically level-headed Farke said. “Every game has pressure at this level. So far we have always spoken about a huge game. Everton on the opening day, Wolves away, Burnley a huge game.
“We are quite focused, quite relaxed but looking forward to this game. It's why we’ve worked our socks off for the last 24 months, to have these evenings. Friday night, floodlights are on, packed out Elland Road - it can’t be better.
“We want to reward ourselves with some points but the first step is to respect the opponent, be well prepared, execute our plan properly and also be clinical enough in both boxes to give ourselves a chance to win as many points as possible.”
No Leeds United complacency against struggling West Ham
Farke has regularly taken a different view of previous results when looking ahead to games, often warning his squad last season that they are most vulnerable after big wins. The Leeds boss adopted a similar mindset regarding West Ham, who lost 2-0 to Brentford on Monday in a game that could have been far worse.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are in turmoil and his new manager bounce was virtually non-existent, with three games in charge producing one point and raising more questions than answers. But Farke acknowledges the quality Friday’s visitors have on offer and expects a response to Monday’s miserable defeat.
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“Expect a difficult game,” the Leeds boss added. “West Ham are a well established Premier League side with high individual quality, many experienced players. Also with Nuno , they have a very experienced coach at this level.
“To be honest I didn’t like the game on Monday that much because after such a game, normally they are even more spot on and will look under each and every stone to see what they can improve. You have a very experienced and quality coach, quality players who will have spoken after the game to say ‘let’s make sure we deliver the basics’.
“You can tell they will show a good performance and it will be difficult to beat them. I’d rather play against a team underestimating a newly-promoted side. A difficult game for us but nevertheless, at this level every game is difficult and especially in the home games, we have a good chance to win some points.”
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